Canadiens Preparing Carey Price Trade to Western Conference Team

Trading Carey Price Provides Salary-Cap Relief and Flexibility

Price is entering his final season under contract, part of the eight-year, $84 million deal he signed in July 2017. His $10.5 million cap hit has long sat on long-term injured reserve after a severe knee injury effectively ended his career in April 2022.

While the Canadiens have managed the cap impact through LTIR, where salaries don't count against the cap, moving the contract outright will provide the front office with more flexibility during the upcoming season.

The timing of the deal coincides with a $5.5 million signing bonus due to Price on Sept. 1, as reported by TVA Sports. Once the Canadiens pay that bonus, the team acquiring Price in a trade would owe only a fraction of the netminder's final year under contract.

Farewell to a Canadiens Franchise Icon

Though technically not retired, Price has admitted his body will not allow him to return to NHL play. Multiple injuries, particularly an osteochondral defect in his knee, have forced him to step away.

"You wake up the morning after a hockey game and, even as a mid-20-year-old, you’re already kind of feeling like you’ve been through a car crash,” Price told The Athletic's Arpon Basu. "You know long term that’s going to take a toll. So yeah, you know, but you’re also kind of thinking that I only have one life to live, and this is what I want to do with my life.

“At the end of the day, as you get toward the end of your career you start thinking, ‘OK, well, at that point I’ve paid a price for this,’ and then you have to start looking (at life) after hockey, and then you start thinking I want to be able to walk and play with my kids.”

The Canadiens selected Price with the No. 5 pick of the 2005 NHL draft and the goalie went on to play his entire career in Montreal.

Price amassed 361 wins, including 49 shutouts, while posting a 2.51 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. He also won a Hart Trophy, a Vezina Trophy, and a Jennings Trophy throughout his decorated career.

The netminder led the Canadiens to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, cementing his place as one of the greatest goalies in franchise history, even though he never got to hoist the cup.